Speaker Tom Wilson

Stirling Rotary Meeting 18.3.16

President Peter Mehta welcomed members, plus visitor Jim Cooper from Dunblane.  The speaker was our own Tom Wilson, who chose to address the Clydebank bombing raids of March 1941.  Both Tom and his wife are natives of Clydebank and so have  a particular interest in the town and its history. 

In 1939, during what became known as the Phoney War, The Luftwaffe conducted aerial reconnaissance of Clydebank, known to be a major centre for war production.  For example, John Brown’s yard built warships, Singer produced ammunition and Beardmore made armour plate, to name but three, with Singer and JB employing 21,000 people between them.  Workers tended to live in high density housing close to their place of work, meaning that it was all too easy for whole families to be wiped out at the one time.  Homes consisted mainly of 4-storey tenements with closes in between.  As a result of the 1937 Civil Defence Act, walls were built across close entrances, to reduce blast damage.

On the night of March 13th. 1941, over 200 Heinkel and Ju88 bombers set out from their continental bases, headed for Clydebank.  There was a wave each from Northern France, Belgium and Denmark.  To ease navigation, they flew first to Loch Lomond, then south to the river Clyde and finally East up the river to Clydebank.  They were led by Kampfgruppe 100, the Pathfinders. The bombers attacked the munitions factories and shipyards of Clydebank. Waves of high-explosive bombs, incendiary bombs and land-mines were dropped over a nine-hour period. Streets were devastated, fires raged, and people were trapped in collapsed buildings. The Polish destroyer ORP Piorun under Commander Eugeniusz Pławski was at John Brown’s, undergoing repairs. She joined the defence of Clydebank, firing a tremendous barrage at the Luftwaffe. A memorial to the ship’s crew can be seen in Solidarity Plaza, Clydebank.

The next night, with rescue work continuing, 200 bombers returned; their bombing raid lasted more than seven and a half hours. Throughout the two days, 528 civilians were killed, over 617 people were seriously injured, and several housing schemes were completely wiped out. 48,000 civilians lost their homes, many of them shipyard workers and their families, packed into Clydebank’s tenements. Fire was the cause of the most damage.  The factories themselves suffered less than the houses, although the Ordnance factory sustained a direct hit. Singer’s wood yard was also destroyed and the glow from the burning timber could be seen in the sky as far away as Aberdeen.   Despite all this, by March 20th., two thirds of workers were back at their posts.

In 1997, Clydebank was awarded regeneration status, along with Raploch and is now a prosperous town.  John Brown’s yard went on to construct the QE2 and many other famous and less well-known vessels and is still building fine ships to this day.

The Vote of Thanks was given by Senior Vice President Alan Rankin and was well supported. This week’s Speakers Host is Philip Allison, with Visitors Host Ranald Ross-Watt. Stirling Rotary welcomes new members.  More information can be obtained from our website www.stirling.rotary1010.org.

Ranald Ross-Watt
Communications Convener